2020 Candidate Profile: Meg Cameron For Assembly District 91

RYE, NY — There are several contested races in this month's primary, including for the Democratic candidate for Assembly District 91. Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as the primary day draws near.

Meg Cameron, 66, is running for replace incumbent Assemblyman Steve Otis as the Democratic candidate. She is co-owner of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, New York's only car manufacturer.

She received a BFA/BA from SUNY Purchase and an M.Sc. in Immunology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Sue Golding Graduate Division.

Cameron lives in the City of Rye and is married with two children and five grandchildren.

Assembly District 91 includes Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Rye, Port Chester and portions of New Rochelle.

Why are you seeking elective office?

This is no time for politics-as-usual, or for cautious, timid career politicians. I’ve made a difference locally and I’m ready to make a difference in Albany. I care deeply about my community — I've raised my kids here, and I hope to make it a better place for my grandchildren to thrive. Our district needs a leader who will be a tireless advocate for change. The stakes are too high for any elected official to continue sitting on the sidelines.

The single most pressing issue facing our community, and what I intend to do about it.

Recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and its economic effects.

We need people with private-sector business experience who understand what our district’s small-business owners and workers need to get back on their feet. I would be that and more: a fierce advocate for continuing support, and for policies and projects to prevent a serious recession.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have the real-world experience necessary to truly understand the district’s pressing issues. I’m a small-business owner; a mom and grandmother who raised children in the district and sent them to local public schools; and a community volunteer in a number of capacities including delivering Meals-on-Wheels and tutoring English as a Second Language. As a result, I have a lived-experience grasp of the issues facing private-sector business owners and workers, parents and children, immigrants and seniors, in a way that my opponent, who has spent an entire career in Albany, does not.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

My opponent is unwilling or unable to work productively with some of the district’s local elected officials, to the point where three different mayors in two municipalities were angry enough to object to Governor Cuomo that my opponent was acting against his constituents’ interests. (1 2, 3)

My opponent has not been an effective advocate for the district’s public schools, and has failed to secure tens of millions of dollars NYS promised school districts in his jurisdiction. One of them, Port Chester, has been shortchanged of more money per child than any other school district in Westchester. (4, 5)

My opponent takes credit for legislation regarding reproductive rights, voter access and gun safety, but has never written a single bill on any of these subjects.

The esteemed investigative journalist Wayne Barrett has made a credible claim that my opponent was given $40,000 in return for awarding a judicial appointment. I’m neither a prosecutor nor jury, but voters can make up their own minds about the ethics of this behavior. (6)

(1) https://www.lohud.com/story/ne...
(2) https://www.lohud.com/story/ne...
(3) https://ryerecord.com/new-bill...
(4) https://www.portchesterschools...
(5) https://www.aqeny.org/foundati...
(6) https://www.nydailynews.com/op... NOTE: In this article, my opponent is “the mayor who appointed him and subsequently won the assembly seat."

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I am committed to fighting for social and criminal justice; protecting workers and jobs; clean, green energy; affordable housing; gun safety; reproductive rights and health, including addressing our maternal mortality crisis; gun safety; and LGBTQ rights.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

As small-business owners, my family and I built a successful manufacturing company from ground up and have not laid off a single worker during the quarantine. We need people with this kind of experience to help the economy recover. As Chair of the Rye City Democratic Committee, I proved my political leadership ability by doubling its membership and winning election victories that put the City’s government in Democratic hands in a Republican-majority city, showing that I’m the candidate best equipped to meet the district’s need for a representative who works well with others. I also served on the board of Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic for nine years, fighting to protect and expand access to high quality reproductive healthcare in our region; I bring to the table a fierce commitment to women’s health and will work to protect reproductive rights and address our state’s abysmal maternal mortality rates. My extensive volunteer work has anchored me in the community and given me a deep understanding of our district's needs — my work with Meals on Wheels, in particular, has shown me the many ways we need to be supporting our senior population. My experience as a committed advocate for our community has shaped my leadership and prepared me for another kind of public service in the legislature.

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